Work Programme

Ann McKechin: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland pursuant to the answer of 28 November 2012, Official Report, column 356W, on the Work Programme, whether the Scottish Government has agreed to (a) meet any of the training costs of and (b) provide training opportunities to those claimants who are taking part in the Work Programme in Scotland.

David Mundell: The Scottish Government has not agreed to meet the training costs or provide training opportunities to Work Programme participants in Scotland.

CPS Direct

David Ruffley: To ask the Attorney-General what the annual running costs of CPS Direct are; how many staff, including duty prosecutors, CPS Direct currently employs; and what the annual expenditure by CPS Direct on staff was in each of the last three years.

Oliver Heald: The following tables give the details of CPS Direct budget and staff position for the last three years.
	The total budget for each year, total spending in each year, and total staff salary costs is shown in Table A.
	
		
			 Table A 
			 £ 
			  Total budget Total spend Total salary costs 
			 2009-10 13,523,769 13,512,915 12,699,948 
			 2010-11 13,037,959 13,010,208 12,619,372 
			 2011-12 11,831,138 11,809,867 11,465,480 
			 Current budget 11,563,959 — — 
			 Note: Current budget is for ‘out of hours’ workload, although CPS Direct is assisting some CPS areas by dealing with a proportion of their daytime charging workload for which a transfer of funds to CPS Direct from the area will be made. 
		
	
	The number of duty prosecutors, legal managers and central support team staff is shown in Table B. The figures show staff numbers in terms of staff employed on a full-time equivalent basis.
	
		
			 Table B 
			  Duty prosecutors Legal managers Central support team 
			 2009-10 125.5 12 19 
			 2010-11 115.8 11 17 
			 2011-12 98.7 11 15 
			 Current staffing 143.5 10 18 
			 Note: Current staffing levels now include for the first time staff employed to provide charging advice to the police during the ordinary working week. This is the first year that CPS Direct has had staff employed from area offices to advise police during the daytime on weekdays.

Grants

Margaret Curran: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to the answer of 28 November 2012, Official Report, column 341W, on grants, how much was paid in (a) Scotland and (b) the UK through (i) work clubs, (ii) enterprise clubs, (iii) community care grants, (iv) sure start maternity grants, (v) funeral payments, (vi) cold weather payments, (vii) winter fuel payments, (viii) access to work grants, (ix) grants awarded under the Flexible Support Fund and (x) new enterprise allowance scheme in each of the last five years.

Mark Hoban: The information is as follows:
	
		
			 (i) Final annual expenditure on work clubs 
			 £ 
			  Scotland Great Britain 
			 2007-08 — — 
			 2008-09 — — 
			 2009-10 — — 
			 2010-11 22,361 189,735 
			 2011-12 57,480 603,045 
			 Notes: 1. Work clubs launched in October 10 in target areas and UK wide from April 11. 2. Northern Ireland data is not included. 
		
	
	
		
			 (ii) Final annual expenditure on enterprise clubs 
			 £ 
			  Scotland Great Britain 
			 2007-08 — — 
			 2008-09 — — 
			 2009-10 — — 
			 2010-11 — — 
			 2011-12 4,477 149,524 
			 Notes: 1. Enterprise clubs launched in April 11. 2. Northern Ireland data is not included. 
		
	
	
		
			 (iii) Final annual expenditure on community care grants 
			 £ million 
			  Scotland Great Britain 
			 2007-08 19.5 138.9 
			 2008-09 20.9 139.2 
			 2009-10 20.8 138.8 
			 2010-11 20.8 138.9 
			 2011-12 20.4 139.2 
		
	
	
		
			 (iv) Final annual expenditure on Sure Start maternity grants 
			 £ million 
			  Scotland Great Britain 
			 2007-08 8.6 123.1 
			 2008-09 9.8 132.9 
			 2009-10 9.9 138.9 
			 2010-11 9.3 130.1 
			 2011-12 3.8 45.3 
		
	
	
		
			 (v) Final annual expenditure on funeral payments 
			 £ million 
			  Scotland Great Britain 
			 2007-08 6.5 46.0 
			 2008-09 6.7 48.4 
			 2009-10 6.5 47.1 
			 2010-11 6.2 46.5 
			 2011-12 6.2 46.7 
		
	
	
		
			 (vi) Final annual expenditure for cold weather payments (estimated) 
			 £ million 
			  Scotland Great Britain 
			 2007-08 3.2 4.1 
			 2008-09 14.8 210.4 
			 2009-10 51.1 297.6 
			 2010-11 93.9 430.8 
		
	
	
		
			 2011-12 1.8 129.2 
			 Notes for (iii), (iv), (v), (vi): 1. The information provided is Management Information. This information is not quality assured to the same extent as Official/National statistics and there are some issues with the data; for example, it does not include applications which were processed clerically and have not yet been entered on to the social fund computer system. 2. Information regarding annual expenditure for social fund schemes in Northern Ireland is a matter for the Northern Ireland office and is not included in the above figures. 3. These figures only include payments made in respect of weather stations whose coverage areas lie entirely within Scotland. There are some weather station areas that cross the border with England; as we do not know which country these recipients are in, they are excluded from the figures. 4. Cold weather payments are made to benefit units rather than to households or individuals. A benefit unit can be a single person or a couple and can include children. The annual expenditure for cold weather payments is based on the estimated number of eligible benefit units on the 31 October at the start of the relevant year. 5. Since 2008-09, each benefit unit is paid £25 for each seven day period of cold weather. In 2007-08, the rate was £8.50 for each seven day period. 6. Figure are rounded to the nearest £100,000. 
		
	
	(vii) Winter fuel payments
	Expenditure on winter fuel payments for Scotland and the UK (excluding Northern Ireland) can be found in the expenditure by local authority table published here:
	http://research.dwp.gov.uk/asd/asd4/la_expenditure.xls
	Source: DWP Statistical and Accounting Data.
	
		
			 (viii) Final annual expenditure on access to work grants 
			 £ 
			  Scotland Great Britain 
			 2007-08 — 75,841,236 
			 2008-09 — 81,223,332 
			 2009-10 4,480,492 97,979,187 
			 2010-11 6,303,050 107,049,733 
			 2011-12 5,710,396 92,960,281 
			 Notes: 1. No separate cost centre on access to work grants for Scotland prior to 2009-10; would require detailed transaction analysis which is disproportionate cost. 2. Northern Ireland data is not included. 
		
	
	
		
			 (ix) Final annual expenditure on flexible support fund partnership grants 
			 £ 
			  Scotland Great Britain 
			 2007-08 — — 
			 2008-09 — — 
			 2009-10 — — 
			 2010-11 — — 
			 2011-12 919,786 4,783,141 
			 Notes: 1. FSF launched in April 11. 2. Northern Ireland data is not included. 
		
	
	
		
			 (x) Final annual expenditure on New Enterprise Allowance Scheme mentoring grants 
			 £ 
			  Scotland Great Britain 
			 2007-08 — — 
			 2008-09 — — 
			 2009-10 — — 
		
	
	
		
			 2010-11 — 45,600 
			 2011-12 — 11,178,133 
			 Notes: 1. NEA was launched in 2010-11 in a pilot area only. National launch date was April 11. 2. Costs for Scotland are not separately held; would require detailed transaction analysis which is disproportionate cost. 3. Northern Ireland data is not included.

Housing Benefit

Chris Skidmore: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (a) how many people claiming housing benefit live in and (b) what the total cost to the public purse is of housing benefit paid to households with (i) one, (ii) two, (iii) three, (iv) four, (v) five, (vi) six, (vii) seven, (viii) eight, (ix) nine and (x) 10 or more children.

Steve Webb: The requested information is in the following table.
	
		
			 Housing benefit recipients in 2012 and expenditure for 2011-12 by number of child dependants 
			 Number of child dependants Caseload August 2012 Expenditure 2011-12 (£ million) 
			 1 835,040 4,110 
		
	
	
		
			 2 557,020 2,884 
			 3 250,940 1,454 
			 4 89,260 547 
			 5 28,390 200 
			 6 9,070 71 
			 7 3,100 29 
			 8 1,070 10 
			 9 360 4 
			 10 or more 190 2 
			 Notes: 1. The data refers to benefit units, which may be a single person or a couple. 2. Recipients are as at second Thursday of the month. 3. SHBE is a monthly electronic scan of claimant level data direct from local authority computer systems. It replaces quarterly aggregate clerical returns. The data is available monthly from November 2008 and August 2012 is the most recent available. 4. Number of child dependants: Only count child dependants resident in the household on the extract date who are less than 20 years old. 5. Caseload figures are rounded to the nearest 10. 6. The breakdown of HB expenditure into the above groups is estimated based on a combination of statistical data and local authority subsidy returns, as outturn expenditure data is not available at this level. 7. These estimates are consistent with the latest published expenditure outturn available at: http://statistics.dwp.gov.uk/asd/asd4/h_tables_budget_ 2012_300812.xls Source: Single Housing Benefit Extract (SHBE).

Jobseeker's Allowance

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many benefit sanctions were imposed on jobseeker's allowance claimants in July to September in (a) 2010, (b) 2011 and (c) 2012.

Mark Hoban: Statistics on how many benefit sanctions were imposed on jobseeker's allowance claimants from April 2000 to April 2012, which is the latest data available, can be found at:
	http://research.dwp.gov.uk/asd/index.php?page=tabtool
	Guidance for users is available at:
	http://research.dwp.gov.uk/asd/asd1/tabtools/guidance.pdf

Social Security Benefits: Carers

John Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of support provided to carers in applying for benefits.

Mark Hoban: The Government recognises the valuable contribution carers make both to their families and society as a whole. We are keen to give them the support they need: whether to balance work with their caring responsibilities or to get back to work when their caring responsibilities end or reduce.
	For carers seeking to enter the labour market, Jobcentre Plus advisers ensure that they have the same access to all the programmes, such as the Work programme, as other job seekers, and can be granted exemptions from requirements in certain circumstances. Advisers discuss each individual's circumstances and skills and tailor the help that will best equip them to enter the labour market.
	The jobseeker's allowance (JSA) rules contain special provision to help carers back into employment. There is, in addition, a range of benefits, tax credits and other financial supports that carers may also be able to receive:
	Carer's allowance if they are aged 16 or over and care for someone at least 35 hours a week.
	If an assessment by their local council confirms they need support services to help them in their caring role, the carer can choose direct payments. This allows carers to buy in and arrange help themselves instead of receiving it directly from social services.
	Carer's credit is a national insurance credit which enables carers to build up qualifying years for the basic state pension and additional state pension. This means there will be no gaps in their national insurance record if they need to take on caring responsibilities.
	They may still be able to build up entitlement to additional state pension if they are not working or caring for someone. A carer may also qualify for extra pension credit.
	If they are claiming income support and also entitled to carer's allowance, they may be able to get an extra amount in their income support. This is called the 'Carer Premium'.
	If they are on a low income and need financial help to pay their rent, they may be able to get housing benefit. They may get extra money if they are caring for a disabled child or adult.
	If they are on a low income and need financial help to pay their council tax, they may be able to get council tax benefit. They may also get extra money if they are caring for a disabled child or adult.
	Personal advisers give advice on local childcare and social care provision to assist carers when attending appointments with a personal adviser or an approved provider, or even when starting work. New markers on customer computer records have also been introduced to identify customers as carers and record whether there are care needs to be addressed.
	The characteristics and circumstances of carers vary enormously, as does the range of benefits they might claim. These markers will therefore help to ensure that carers receive appropriate support and, in time, they will provide data which will inform assessments of the support provided to them.

Social Security Benefits: Fraud

David Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many cases of benefit fraud his Department has investigated in (a) Suffolk, (b) Bury St Edmunds constituency and (c) England and Wales in each of the last three financial years; and how many such investigations subsequently resulted in a conviction.

Mark Hoban: The number of investigations by DWP for benefit fraud in Bury St Edmunds is not available. The number of investigations for Suffolk, and England and Wales is shown as follows.
	
		
			  Suffolk England and Wales 
			 2009-10 1,187 135,241 
			 2010-11 1,242 140,275 
			 2011-12 1,592 150,231 
		
	
	The number of convictions for benefit fraud in prosecutions taken by DWP in England and Wales in shown as follows. This information is not available by geographical region and was provided by the DWP Prosecution Division, (part of the CPS since 1 April 2012).
	
		
			  England and Wales 
			 2009-10 6,606 
			 2010-11 8,084 
			 2011-12 9,169 
		
	
	The information supplied by the Department has not been subjected to the rigorous quality assurance checks applied to our published official statistics. It is therefore possible this information may change due to operational reasons.

Universal Credit

David Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Warrington North of 17 September 2012, Official Report, columns 537-38W, on universal credit: Warrington and the answer to the hon. Member for Jarrow of 29 October 2012, Official Report, columns 64-65W, on universal credit, on what date he plans to announce what support will be made available to those claimants who do not currently make benefit claims online.

Mark Hoban: A framework that describes how we will help people who can't use the standard online UC service will be published in the new year. The framework will set out the support available to claimants who will need to make claims on line.

Work Capability Assessment

Tom Greatrex: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions with reference to page 18 of the Government's response to Professor Malcolm Harrington's Third Independent Review of the Work Capability Assessment, published in November 2012, how many assessments carried out by Atos Healthcare achieved (a) an A, (b) a B, (c) a C and (d) a D grade or lower in each month since May 2010.

Mark Hoban: The number of assessments carried out by Atos Healthcare that achieved an A, B or C grade at audit in each month since May 2010 is shown in the following table.
	
		
			  A B C Total 
			 May 2010 240 54 11 305 
			 June 2010 202 89 10 301 
			 July 2010 211 81 15 307 
			 August 2010 235 60 13 308 
			 September 2010 221 76 14 311 
			 October 2010 207 89 9 305 
			 November 2010 219 78 9 306 
			 December 2010 194 97 18 309 
			 January 2011 204 93 13 310 
			 February 2011 209 86 11 306 
			 March 2011 232 65 10 307 
			 April 2011 213 80 12 305 
			 May 2011 209 85 11 305 
			 June 2011 226 74 6 306 
			 July 2011 199 95 14 308 
			 August 2011 210 85 14 309 
			 September 2011 204 78 20 302 
			 October 2011 219 74 15 308 
			 November 2011 224 71 12 307 
			 December 2011 209 86 12 307 
			 January 2012 214 79 14 307 
		
	
	
		
			 February 2012 220 74 13 307 
			 March 2012 240 59 10 309 
			 April 2012 220 77 9 306 
			 May 2012 221 73 13 307 
			 June 2012 199 . 85 18 302 
			 July 2012 217 89 7 313 
			 August 2012 207 83 14 304 
			 September 2012 201 94 12 307 
			 October 2012 226 70 7 303 
			 November 2012 195 95 13 303 
		
	
	At audit category D is not a recognised category.

Grants

Margaret Curran: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities what grant-giving programmes are operated by the Government Equalities Office; and which such programmes award grants in Scotland.

Maria Miller: The Government Equalities Office (GEO) currently provides the funding for the Access to Elected Office Fund (A2EO). Scottish residents can apply to the fund if they are applying for UK Westminster elections. GEO also contributes funding to three initiatives led by other Government Departments. These are the BIS Get Mentoring Scheme, which is available to women in Scotland; the DEFRA Rural Growth Network Pilot Scheme and projects funded by the Home Office Violent and Youth Crime Prevention Unit, which do not cover Scotland.

Asylum

Bridget Phillipson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people (a) applied for asylum, (b) were granted asylum, (c) appealed against a refusal of refugee status and (d) were successful in such appeals, by gender, in each year since 2005.

Mark Harper: Figures on how many main applicants (a) applied for asylum, (b) were granted asylum, (c) appealed against an initial decision and (d) received an allowed appeal, by gender have been published in a number of Home Office statistical bulletins over the years.
	The latest release Immigration Statistics July to September 2012 is available in the Library of the House and from the Home Office Science website at:
	http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/publications/science-research-statistics/research-statistics/immigration-asylum-research/immigration-q3-2012/
	Information on the number of asylum applications and grants of asylum received for 2005 to 2007 is available from Asylum Statistics 2005, Table 5.1 and 5.2, Asylum Statistics 2006, Table 5.1 and Asylum Statistics 2007, Table 5:
	http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20110218135832/http://rds.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/asylum.html

Immigration

Kate Green: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps the Government is taking to monitor the effect of new family migration rules affecting sponsorship of non-EEA spouses, partners, or adult/elderly dependants which came into force on 9 July 2012, on family life in the UK.

Mark Harper: holding answer 22 November 2012
	The new family migration rules are intended to reduce burdens on the taxpayer, promote integration and tackle abuse, as reflected in the impact assessment published on 13 June 2012. The Government will keep the impact of the new rules in achieving these objectives and more generally on family life in the UK under review in the light of the published immigration statistics and other sources of information available on the operation of the rules.

Offences Against Children: British Nationals Abroad

Fiona Mactaggart: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many British citizens have been (a) investigated and (b) charged with sexual offences against children abroad since extra-territorial legislation came into force in the UK.

Jeremy Browne: Data held centrally in an aggregated format provides information on offences provided by the statutes under which proceedings are brought, but not all the specific circumstances of each case. It is not possible to identify separately from this centrally held information the jurisdiction in which offences have taken place, nor the nationality of each defendant. However, the police and CPS take very seriously their responsibility to protect children both at home and abroad, and work closely together to prosecute robustly cases using section 72 of the Sexual Offences Act 2003 where appropriate.

Charitable Donations

Robert Flello: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what estimate the Office of Civil Society has made of what the likely cost to (a) charities which hold them of the removal of national exemption orders and (b) local authorities to administer extra licence applications caused by the removal of national exemption orders.

Nick Hurd: There are no plans to abolish national exemption orders. However, there is a general recognition that some changes are needed to the current regime. The Cabinet Office plans to work closely with the charitable sector, local authorities and other interested parties on changes to the scheme for national exemption orders, which will include assessing the impact of any proposed changes.

Charities

Peter Bone: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office 
	(1)  what guidance his Department has given to Ministers on their involvement in the award of public funding to charities;
	(2)  what mechanism his Department has put in place to oversee the allocation of Government funding to charities;
	(3)  what procedure his Department used to grant funding for 2013-14 and 2014-15 to the Book Trust; and what were the amounts awarded;
	(4)  if he will publish all (a) emails and (b) other correspondence received or sent by the Government in relation to the award of grants to the Book Trust in (i) 2013-14 and (ii) 2014-15.

Nick Hurd: Ministers have a legitimate and proper role in decisions relating to the award of public funding to charities. The decision to award grant funding to Booktrust for 2013-15 was taken by the Secretary of State for Education on the basis of advice from officials. The amounts awarded to Booktrust are £6 million for the period 2013-14 and a further £6 million in 2014-15. Internal records and e-mails relating to such decisions are not routinely disclosed. The cabinet secretary has replied to a letter from my hon. Friend and a copy has been placed in the Library of the House.

Natural Resources

Simon Wright: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what progress has been made by the Office of National Statistics towards inclusion of the value of natural capital into the UK environmental accounts by 2020.

Nick Hurd: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
	Letter from Glen Watson, dated 5 December 2012
	As Director General of the Office for National Statistics, I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question asking, what progress has been made by the Office of National Statistics (ONS) towards inclusion of the value of natural capital into the UK environmental accounts by 2020 (131789).
	In November 2011, the ONS published a paper "Towards a Sustainable Environment - UK Natural Capital and Ecosystem Economic Accounting" to outline its approach to including natural capital in the UK Environmental Accounts. In terms of ecosystems accounting, the paper identified the compilation of a pilot ecosystems account for woodlands as an important first step in the process of increasing the coverage of natural capital within the UK Environmental Accounts. The ONS has already started work on a pilot woodlands ecosystem account.
	In July 2012, the ONS published a consultation on "Accounting for the value of nature in the UK", which set out the rationale for the accounts, provided a tentative outline timetable of development work, and sought views on the scope of the accounts and relative priorities for their development.
	The consultation, which was completed in September 2012, was followed up by a stakeholder workshop in October to discuss the priorities and scope of a roadmap which will provide a more detailed timetable for the development of the accounts. The roadmap will be published on 19 December 2012, which will provide a detailed timetable for including natural capital into the UK Environmental Accounts by 2020.

Public Sector: Standards

Stephen Timms: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office with reference to his Department's Open Public Services White Paper, whether the commitment that providers of public services from all sectors will need to publish information on performance applies in the case of services for which official statistics are already published.

Oliver Letwin: In the Open Public Services 2012 update the Government committed to ensure that key data about public services (including data about user satisfaction and performance of providers from all sectors) is in the public domain in a comparable and accessible form.
	In meeting this commitment publication may take a number of forms, including the publication of official statistics. Arrangements are decided by the respective Department or organisation.

Public Sector: Standards

Stephen Timms: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office with reference to his Department's Open Public Services White Paper, for which public services the commitment that providers of public services from all sectors will need to publish information on user satisfaction has so far been (a) implemented and (b) not implemented; and if he will make a statement.

Oliver Letwin: In the Open Public Services 2012 update the Government committed to ensure that key data about public services (including data about user satisfaction and performance of providers from all sectors) is in the public domain in a comparable and accessible form.
	The release of data is a process of continuous improvement and we have made significant progress in releasing user satisfaction, spending and performance data in a range of individual service areas. All Whitehall Departments have published Open Data Strategies which will continue to put the Open Data agenda deep in the delivery of frontline Government services and will result in the release of more accessible data.
	These were published in June 2012 and can be accessed at:
	www.data.gov.uk

Advertising

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what his Department plans to spend on (a) television, (b) radio, (c) print and (d) online advertising in (i) 2011-12 and (ii) 2012-13.

Daniel Poulter: The Department's media spend for 2011-12 is as follows:
	
		
			 Older people media spend 
			 Campaign 2011-12 spend (£) 
			 Dementia  
			 Television (TV) 960,000 
			 Radio 280,000 
			 Print(1) 270,000 
			 Online 100,000 
			   
			 Flu  
			 Print(1) 60,000 
			   
			 Stroke  
			 TV 720,000 
			 Radio 40,000 
			   
			 Cancer  
			 TV 1,590,000 
			 Radio 670,000 
			 Print(1) 1,140,000 
			 Online 370,000 
			   
			 111  
			 Radio 30,000 
			 Print(1) 560,000 
			 (1) Print includes pharmacy bags, outdoor and door drops. 
		
	
	
		
			 Change4Life media spend 
			 Campaign 2011-12 spend (£) 
			 Alcohol  
			 TV 810,000 
			 Online 100,000 
			   
			 Summer activity/Games4Life  
			 TV 1,080,000 
		
	
	
		
			 Print 10,000 
			 Online 650,000 
			   
			 January healthy eating  
			 Print 350,000 
			 Online 270,000 
		
	
	
		
			 Tobacco media spend 
			 Campaign 2011-12 spend (£) 
			 Smokefree Generation  
			 TV 1,100,000 
			 Radio 250,000 
			 Online 40,000 
			   
			 January Quit Kit 2012  
			 TV 1,600,000 
			 Radio 410,000 
			 Online 80,000 
		
	
	
		
			 Total media spend 
			  2011-12 spend (£) 
			 Total TV 7,860,000 
			 Total Radio 1,680,000 
			 Total Print 2,390,000 
			 Total Online 1,610,000 
			 Notes: 1. Advertising spend is defined as covering only media spend (inclusive of agency commissions but excluding production costs, COI commission (where applicable) and VAT). 2. These figures do not include departmental recruitment/classified advertising costs and ad hoc spend under £10,000. 3. These figures may include occasional minor spend through COI by NHS organisations, to supplement national campaigns in their area. 
		
	
	While this expenditure has been excluded as far as possible so that this spreadsheet reflects central departmental spend, it would incur disproportionate cost to validate that every item of NHS expenditure has been removed.
	We are unable to provide planned spend figures for 2012-13 public health campaigns as we are currently in that financial year and campaign budget allocations are still being finalised. A full evaluation of all 2012-13 campaigns, including costs, will be completed and published in line with the Department's freedom of information publication scheme.

Alcoholic Drinks: East Midlands

Andrew Bingham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many alcohol-related hospital admissions there were in (a) High Peak constituency, (b) Derbyshire and (c) the East Midlands in each of the last five years; and if he will make an assessment of those figures compared to the UK averages for such admissions.

Daniel Poulter: The tables contain the sum of the estimated alcohol attributable fractions for admissions for High Peak parliamentary constituency, Derbyshire county primary care trust (PCT) of residence, East Midlands strategic health authority (SHA) of residence, England (residence), population data and crude admission rates for 2007-08 to 2011-12.
	It should be noted that a parliamentary constituency breakdown is not possible before 2008-09.
	It is not possible to make an assessment of such admissions compared to UK averages, only England figures can be provided for comparison.
	It should be noted that these figures are not a count of people and do not represent an actual number of admissions that were attributable to alcohol.
	Alcohol attributable fractions (AAF) are based on the proportion of a given diagnosis or injury that is estimated to be attributed to alcohol. Some diagnoses or injuries will, by definition, be wholly attributable to alcohol and have an AAF of one, others will only be partly attributable to alcohol and have an AAF greater than zero, but less than one. Diagnoses or injuries that are not attributable at all to alcohol will have an AAF of zero.
	These figures are derived by summing all AAFs for the relevant admissions and should therefore only be interpreted as an estimate of the number of admissions that can be attributed to alcohol.
	
		
			 A sum of the alcohol attributable fractions (1)  for admissions to hospital in High Peak parliamentary constituency (2) , Derbyshire county PCT of residence (3) , East Midlands strategic health authority of residence and England (residence) (4) , population estimates (5)  and crude rate per 100,000 population for the years 2007-08 to 2011-12 (6) 
			 Region (of residence) 
			  2007-08 2008-09 2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 
			 High Peak constituency n/a 1,909 1,840 2,042 2,270 
			 Derbyshire county PCT 13,373 15,344 16,488 17,935 17,566 
			 East Midlands SHA 74,932 82,734 91,502 98,318 97,592 
			 England 855,229 940,403 1,052,068 1,163,565 1,215,083 
		
	
	
		
			 Population estimates 
			  2007-08 2008-09 2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 
			 High Peak constituency 91,600 92,100 92,400 92,600 n/a 
			 Derbyshire county PCT 720,700 724,400 726,300 729,800 737,400 
			 East Midlands SHA 4,397,000 4,429,400 4,451,200 4,481,400 4,537,400 
			 England 51,106,200 51,464,600 51,809,700 52,234,000 53,107,200 
		
	
	
		
			 Crude rate per 100,000 population 
			  2007-08 2008-09 2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 
			 High Peak constituency n/a 2,073 1,991 2,205 n/a 
			 Derbyshire county PCT 1,856 2,118 ' 2,270 2,458 2,382 
			 East Midlands SHA 1,704 1,868 2,056 2,194 2,151 
			 England 1,673 1,827 2,031 2,228 2,288 
			 (1) Alcohol-related admissions The number of alcohol-related admissions is based on the methodology developed by the North West Public Health Observatory (NWPHO), which uses 48 indicators for alcohol-related illnesses, determining the proportion of a wide range of diseases and injuries that can be partly attributed to alcohol as well as those that are, by definition, wholly attributable to alcohol. Further information on these proportions can be found at: www.nwph.net/nwpho/publications/AlcoholAttributableFractions.pdf The application of the NWPHO methodology has recently been updated and is now available directly from HES. As such, information about episodes estimated to be alcohol related may be slightly different from previously published data. Alcohol attributable fractions are not applicable to children under 16. Therefore figures for this age group relate only to wholly-attributable admissions, where the attributable fraction is one. (2) Parliamentary constituency This is the Westminster parliamentary constituency where the patient lives. This is only available for 2008-09 onwards. (3) Primary Care Trust/Strategic Health Authority(PCT/SHA) residence The SHA or PCT containing the patient’s normal home address. This does not necessarily reflect where the patient was treated as they may have travelled to another SHA/PCT for treatment. A change in methodology in 2011-12 resulted in an increase in the number of records where the PCT or SHA of residence was unknown. From 2006-07 to 2010-11 the current PCT and SHA of residence fields were populated from the recorded patient postcode. In. order to improve data completeness, if the postcode was unknown the PCT, SHA and country of residence were populated from the PCT/SHA value supplied by the provider. From April 2011-12 onwards if the patient postcode is unknown the PCT, SHA and country of residence are listed as unknown. (4) Assessing growth through time (Inpatients) HES figures are available from 1989-90 onwards. Changes to the figures over time need to be interpreted in the context of improvements in data quality and coverage (particularly in earlier years), improvements in coverage of independent sector activity (particularly from 2006-07) and changes in NHS practice. For example, changes in activity may be due to changes in the provision of care. (5) Office for National Statistics (ONS) Population Estimates Population figures have been rounded to the nearest 100. ONS mid year population estimates are used for PCT, SHA and England areas. ONS publishes experimental population estimates at parliamentary constituency level up to mid-2010: http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/sape/parliament-constituency-pop-est/index.html (6) Crude Rate per 100,000 population Care should be taken when interpreting crude rates since different areas have different populations. Alcohol fractions are assigned to a range of conditions and causes according to the gender and age of the patient therefore areas with different population profiles are expected to have a different number of alcohol attributable admissions. Source: Hospital Episode Statistics (HES), Health and Social Care Information Centre 
		
	
	Activity in English NHS Hospitals and English NHS commissioned activity in the independent sector.

Diabetes

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps he plans to take to increase the number of patients not previously diagnosed with diabetes who receive diabetes testing.

Anna Soubry: Eligible people between the ages of 40-74 are offered the NHS Health Check. This programme, expected to reach some 15 million people, is a risk assessment and risk management programme for vascular disease and as such it will also identify those at high risk of diabetes.
	According to the evidence base used to develop the programme, the NHS Health Check has the potential to detect at least 20,000 cases of diabetes or kidney disease earlier, improving their health outcomes. It could also prevent 4,000 people a year from developing diabetes by offering appropriate lifestyle advice.
	The NHS Health Check programme has been running since 2009, with phased implementation. The programme is a key performance measure in the NHS Operating Framework for 2012-13, and take-up by the eligible population is an indicator in the Public Health Outcome Framework. It has been mandated to local authorities from April 2013.

Health Services: Foreign Nationals

Stephen McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  how many health tourists have been treated (a) by NHS South Birmingham and (b) in Birmingham in each of the last three years;
	(2)  what the cost to the NHS was of treating non-EU health tourists in (a) England, (b) NHS South Birmingham and (c) Birmingham in each of the last three years.

Anna Soubry: Anyone not ordinarily resident in the United Kingdom, classed as an overseas visitor, is chargeable for national health service hospital treatment unless an exemption from charges applies under Regulations. However, any chargeable overseas visitor who has an urgent or immediate need for treatment will be provided with it even if they have not paid in advance, and any debts will then be pursued.
	As the NHS does not categorise and record data under a definition of “health tourist”, the Department does not hold the information requested. However, the Department does hold data from NHS trusts’ and primary care trusts’ accounts relating to income received from overseas visitors liable for charges. This means the total amount that they invoiced overseas visitors for NHS hospital treatment, not what they received from them in payment. The figures for the last three years are provided in the following table. The Chairman of Monitor has provided similar data for NHS foundation trusts. The data include any charges to overseas visitors from the European Union.
	
		
			 Income received from overseas visitors 
			 £000 
			  2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 
			 England 26,927 35,433 32,738 
			 NHS South Birmingham(1) 89 68 70 
			 Birmingham(2) 236 277 452 
			 (1) Incorporating University of Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust, Birmingham Women's NHS Foundation Trust, Birmingham Children's Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and Birmingham, Solihull Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust and South Birmingham PCT. (2) Incorporating NHS bodies within NHS South Birmingham, plus Heart of England NHS Foundation Trust and Sandwell and West Birmingham NHS Trust. Source: NHS Trust and PCT Audited Summarisation Schedules and audited foundation trust data from Monitor.

Hospitals: Food

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what guidelines his Department issues to hospitals for the use of glucose-fructose syrup in meals served to patients;
	(2)  whether his Department provides guidelines to food manufacturers on the use of glucose-fructose syrup in food products.

Anna Soubry: The Department does not provide guidelines on the use of glucose-fructose syrup either to food manufacturers or to hospitals.
	Last year the Government issued a challenge to the nation to reduce its overconsumption of calories. Food and drink manufacturers are already making a contribution to helping people reduce their calorie intake by signing up to the Responsibility Deal calorie reduction pledge. Action being taken under the pledge includes reductions in the sugar content of food and drink.
	As part of the Government's improving hospital food programme, we encourage hospitals to adopt Government Buying Standards for Food and Catering Services. These include criteria that will, help move food provision towards healthier options.

Hospitals: Private Finance Initiative

Jim Dowd: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the (a) annual cost, (b) the total cost and (c) length of contract is for the private finance initiative contracts with (i) Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Woolwich and (ii) Princess Royal University Hospital, Farnborough; and what (A) financial and (B) special conditions attach to each contract.

Daniel Poulter: Information on the national health service bodies (NHS trusts, NHS foundation trusts and primary care trusts) which have private finance initiative contracts can be found on the Treasury's website at:
	http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/d/pfi_current_projects_ list_march_2012.xls
	The health sector schemes are clearly marked “Department of Health” (column C) and the NHS schemes "DH-Acute (ie Hospitals)" (column E). Row 425 of the projects sheet shows details for the Princess Royal University Hospital (Bromley), and row 426 for the Queen Elizabeth Hospital (Woolwich). Each row contains information on a project's capital value, annual unitary charge payments, financial close date, contract duration and the private sector counterparty companies and their sub-contractors.
	The data shows that the annual unitary charge for financial year 2011-12 for the Princess Royal University Hospital was £37.2 million and that for Queen Elizabeth Hospital was £26.6 million. The total estimated payments over the 30 year operational lifetime of each contract are respectively £1.5 billion and £1.0 billion (the payments are subject to meeting agreed performance and quality standards and include an annual uprate assumption for inflation of 2.5%).
	The annual unitary charges for these two schemes—as for many others—include not just the financing costs for initial construction but also the costs of building maintenance and many non-clinical support services (cleaning, catering, portering etc) provided over the lifetime of the contract. The hon. Member may wish to contact South London Healthcare NHS Trust in regard to the detailed terms and conditions of these two contracts.

Muscular Dystrophy

Graham Stringer: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many unplanned emergency admissions of people with (a) muscular dystrophy and (b) other neuromuscular diseases there were to hospitals in (i) Greater Manchester, (ii) the North West and (iii) England in the latest period for which figures are available.

Norman Lamb: The information requested for muscular dystrophy is shown in the following table. Other neuromuscular conditions cannot be identified separately within the source data.
	
		
			 Count of emergency finished admission episodes (FAEs) (1)  with a primary diagnosis of muscular dystrophy (2)  for (i) selected primary care trusts (PCTs) of main provider located in Greater Manchester (3) , (ii) North West Strategic Health Authority (SHA) of main provider (3) , and (iii) England for the year 2011-12 
			 Activity in English national health services hospitals and English NHS commissioned activity in the independent sector 
			  Greater Manchester North West England 
			 2011-12 * 16 81 
			 (1) An emergency finished admission episode (FAE) is the first period of inpatient care under one consultant within one health care provider where the method of admission was emergency (between 21 and 28). FAEs are counted against the year in which the admission episode finishes. Admissions do not represent the number of in-patients, as a person may have more than one admission within the year. (2) The primary diagnosis is the first of up to 20 (14 from 2002-03 to 2006-07 and seven prior to 2002-03) diagnosis fields in the Hospital Episode Statistics (HES) data set and provides the main reason why the patient was admitted to hospital. ICD-l0 Code used: G71.0 — Muscular dystrophy. (3) This indicates the PCT or SHA area within which the organisation providing treatment was located. Greater Manchester is defined as the following PCTs of main provider: 5HG—Ashton, Leigh And Wigan PCT 5HQ—Bolton PCT 5JX—Bury PCT 5NQ—Heywood, Middleton And Rochdale PCX 5NT—Manchester PCT 5J5—Oldham PCT 5F5—Salford PCT 5F7—Stockport PCT 5LH—Tameside And Glossop PCX 5NR—Trafford PCT. Data QualityHospital Episode Statistics (HES) are compiled from data sent by more than 300 NHS trusts and PCTs in England and from some independent sector organisations for activity commissioned by the English NHS. Health and Social Care Information Centre liaises closely with these organisations to encourage submission of complete and valid data and seeks to minimise inaccuracies. While this brings about improvement over time, some shortcomings remain. Small numbersTo protect patient confidentiality, figures between 1 and 5 have been replaced with “*” (an asterisk). Where it was still possible to identify figures from the total, additional figures have been replaced with “*”. Source: Hospital Episode Statistics (HES), Health and Social Care Information Centre.

Primary Care Trusts

Nicholas Dakin: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 29 November 2012, Official Report, column 504W, on health services, what the 18 unallocated functions are.

Anna Soubry: Since my answer of 29 November, Official Report, column 504W, on health services, the number of unallocated functions has reduced from 18 to five. These are listed in the following table.
	These are limited to localised primary care trust (PCT) functions and do not affect the relevant PCT's individual operational or statutory duties. As these are local issues raised in individual PCTs, and are not replicated around the country, the work to resolve the future hosting of these functions is being taken forward locally.
	
		
			 PCT function description PCT 
			 Fountains Hall Medical Practice Bradford and Airedale PCT 
			 Joint Interface Team Shropshire County PCT 
			 Other hosted contracts Bradford and Airedale PCT 
			 South East Coast Health Policy Support Unit Sussex PCT Cluster 
			 Thames Valley Research management and Governance Oxfordshire PCT

Social Services: Birmingham

Stephen McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much his Department has spent on social care costs in Birmingham in each of the last five years; and what it plans to spend in each of the next three financial years.

Norman Lamb: Social care is a local service, delivered by local authorities for their local populations. Local spending on social care is therefore not set by the Department of Health, but determined by councils, according to their local priorities and pressures. The best source of information on spending decisions in Birmingham is the council itself.
	The Department for Communities and Local Government also publishes expenditure data for local authorities, which is available online at gov.uk. The latest publication is “Local authority revenue expenditure and financing England: 2011 to 2012 individual local authority data”.

Social Services: Finance

Andrew Bingham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what progress he has made on implementing the recommendations of the Dilnot Commission; and if he will make a statement.

Norman Lamb: The Government published a progress report on funding reform in July 2012. The progress report set out that the Government agrees the principles of the Commission's model—financial protection through capped costs and an extended means test—would be the right basis for any new funding model. It is our intention to base a new funding model on them if a way to pay for it can be found. There are important questions that need to be addressed about how those principles could be applied to any reformed system and we are engaging with stakeholders to explore the issues.
	We are taking definitive steps now to pursue several important recommendations made by the Dilnot Commission. This includes the introduction of universal deferred payments for residential care from April 2015 so that nobody will have to sell their home in their lifetime to pay for care. In addition, we will introduce for the first time a national eligibility threshold for adult care and support in England from April 2015 so that people have consistent access across the country. We have also committed to providing a clear, universal and authoritative source of national information about the health and care and support system to improve the information available to support people who have care needs.
	A copy of the “Caring for our future: progress report of funding reform” published in July 2012 has already been placed in the Library.

Rwanda

John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development which projects funded by her Department in Rwanda are to be cut in 2013.

Justine Greening: As my written ministerial statement of 30 November 2012, Official Report, column 38WS, explained, I have decided not to reduce the £21 million general budget support payment to Rwanda, due to be paid in December 2012. I have instructed my officials to provide advice on options for how the UK can continue to help the poorest in Rwanda.

Academies: Finance

Stephen Twigg: To ask the Secretary of State for Education if he will place in the Library the value of Local Authority Central Services Equivalent Grant being paid to all converter academies that had converted prior to September 2011 for the year 2012-13; and if he will show the school's local authority and its LAESTAB number alongside the schools in each case.

David Laws: The Department is currently looking at the options for releasing academies' budget data, including the LACSEG amount, and we expect that this will be published shortly. Once it is published, we will place a copy in the Library.
	The Department published academies' budget data on 9 November 2012. This shows the amount of LACSEG funding given to academies for the 2012/13 academic year. In addition to publishing this information on the Department's website a copy has also been placed in the House Library.

Children in Care

Andrew Griffiths: To ask the Secretary of State for Education 
	(1)  how many young people who entered care at each age and who left care at 16 or older and who did not return to their birth parents had been taken into care because of (a) abuse or neglect, (b) child's disability, (c) parents' illness or disability, (d) family in acute stress, (e) family dysfunction, (f) socially unacceptable behaviour, (g) low income, (h) absent parenting and (i) any other reason in the most recent year for which figures are available;
	(2)  how many live placements each young person had who was aged (a) 11, (b) 12, (c) 13, (d) 14, (e) 15 and (f) 16 when starting their last period of care and who left care at 16 or older and did not return to his or her birth parent in the last year for which figures are available;
	(3)  how many young people taken into care at age 13 or older and who left care at the age of (a) 16, (b) 17 and (c) 18 did not return to their birth parents in each of the last 10 years

Edward Timpson: The number of young people who entered care at each age and who left care at 16 or older, and who did not return to their birth parents, and had been taken into care because of (a) abuse or neglect, (b) child's disability, (c) parents' illness or disability, (d) family in acute stress, (e) family dysfunction, (f) socially unacceptable behaviour, (g) low income, (h) absent parenting and (i) any other for the year ending 31 March 2012 is shown in Table 1.
	The number of placements each young person had who was aged (a) 11, (b) 12, (c) 13, (d) 14, (e) 15 and (f) 16 when starting their last period of care and who left care at 16 or older and did not return to his or her birth parents, for the year ending 31 March 2012 is shown in Table 2.
	To produce information on the number of young people who were taken into care at age 13 or older and who left care at the age of (a) 16, (b) 17 and (c) 18, and who did not return to their birth parents, for each of the last 10 years can be provided only at disproportionate cost.
	Information on the number of children who ceased to be looked after aged 16 and over is provided in table D1 of the Statistical First Release 'Children Looked After by Local Authorities in England (including adoption and care leavers)—year ending 31 March 2012' which can be found on the Department's website via the following link:
	http://www.education.gov.uk/researchandstatistics/statistics/allstatistics/a00213762/children-looked-after-las-england
	
		
			 Table 1: Children aged 16 and over who ceased to be looked after during the year ending 31 March 2012, who did not return home to live with parents or relatives, by age at the start of their last period of care, and category of need (1, 2, 3, 4,5) . Year ending: 31 March 2012. Coverage: England 
			 Number 
			   Category of need on entering care 
			  All children  aged 16 and  over Abuse or neglect Child's disability Parents illness or disability Family in acute stress Family dysfunction Socially unacceptable behaviour Low income Absent parenting 
			 All children 2,980 2,160 60 150 180 300 50 10 80 
			           
			 Age at start of final period of care          
			 Under 1 70 50 10 10 x 10 0 0 0 
			 1 70 60 x 10 10 10 0 0 0 
			 2 130 110 10 10 x 10 0 x x 
			 3 140 110 x 10 10 10 0 x 10 
			 4 190 160 0 10 10 20 x 0 x 
			 5 220 160 x 20 10 20 x x x 
			 6 240 180 x 10 10 20 0 x 10 
			 7 260 200 10 10 10 20 x 0 10 
			 8 290 220 x 20 20 30 x 0 10 
			 9 280 200 10 10 10 30 10 x 10 
			 10 260 190 10 10 20 30 10 x 10 
			 11 220 150 10 10 30 30 x x 10 
			 12 160 100 x 10 10 20 10 0 10 
			 13 170 110 x 10 10 30 10 0 x 
			 14 140 80 x x 10 20 10 0 10 
			 15 110 70 10 0 10 20 10 0 x 
			 16 30 20 x 0 x x x 0 x 
			 17 x x 0 0 0 0 0 0 x 
		
	
	
		
			 (1) Numbers have been rounded to the nearest 10. (2) Figures exclude children looked after under an agreed series of short-term placements. (3) Figures only include children who were taken into care, i.e. children who started to be looked after under a care order, police protection, emergency protection order or child assessment order. (4) The most applicable category of the eight “Need Codes” at the time the child started to be looked after rather than necessarily the entire reason they were looked after. (5) Only the last occasion on which a child ceased to be looked after in the year has been counted. Source: SSDA 903 
		
	
	
		
			 Table 2: Children aged 16 and over who ceased to be looked after during the year ending 31 March 2012 who did not return home to live with parents or relatives, by age at the start of their last period of care, and number of placements in their final period of care (1, 2, 3, 4) . Year ending: 31 March 2012. Coverage: England 
			 Number 
			   Number of placements in final period of care 
			  All children aged 16 and over 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 or more 
			 All children 2,980 50 170 390 400 310 290 230 200 170 790 
			             
			 Age at start of final period of care            
			 Under 1 70 0 10 10 10 x x 10 x x 30 
			 1 70 0 x 10 x 10 10 10 10 10 30 
			 2 130 x 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 50 
			 3 140 x 10 20 10 10 20 10 10 x 40 
			 4 190 x 10 40 10 20 20 10 10 10 60 
			 5 220 10 10 30 40 20 20 10 10 20 60 
			 6 240 x 10 40 30 20 20 20 30 10 60 
			 7 260 0 20 40 30 30 30 20 10 20 70 
			 8 290 x 10 40 40 30 30 20 20 20 80 
			 9 280 x 10 30 40 30 30 20 20 20 90 
			 10 260 x x 20 50 40 20 20 20 20 60 
			 11 220 0 20 20 40 20 20 20 10 10 60 
			 12 160 x 10 20 20 20 20 20 10 10 40 
			 13 170 0 10 30 30 20 20 10 10 10 40 
			 14 140 x 10 20 30 10 10 10 10 10 30 
			 15 110 10 10 30 20 10 10 10 10 x 10 
			 16 30 10 10 10 x x x 0 0 0 x 
			 17 x x x 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 x = Figures not shown in order to protect confidentiality. See Technical Notes for information on data suppression. (1) Numbers have been rounded to the nearest 10. (2) Figures exclude children looked after under an agreed series of short-term placements. (3) Figures only include children who were taken into care, ie children who started to be looked after under a care order, police protection, emergency protection order or child assessment order. (4) Only the last occasion on which a child ceased to be looked after in the year has been counted. Source: SSDA 903

Children: Protection

Annette Brooke: To ask the Secretary of State for Education with reference to his Department's evaluation report, The Impact of more flexible assessment practices in response to the Munro review of child protection: Emerging findings from the trials, published in July 2012, for what reason the report did not seek views from children, young people and their families in the trial authorities; and if the views of such people will be sought before revised statutory guidance is published.

Edward Timpson: holding answer 4 December 2012
	The views expressed by children and young people, their families and their advocates have been obtained and taken into account when informing the Government's proposed changes to the assessment process for children in need.
	The evaluation report ‘The Impact of more flexible assessment practices in response to the Munro review of child protection: Emerging findings from the trials’, (July 2012) is an independent report by the Childhood Wellbeing Research Centre. The report was commissioned by the Department for Education and forms one part of the evidence which will be used to inform the final revisions to statutory guidance. Consideration was given by the Department as to whether the views of children should be obtained as part of the formal consultation process. This was discussed with the Office of the Children's Commissioner and the Office of the Children's Rights Director (OCRD) and it was ¦agreed that this was not necessary as there was already considerable information before the Department from children about their experiences of the assessment process and that the focus should be on reflecting such views in the revised statutory guidance.
	Children's views were obtained as part of the Munro review which was an independent, wide-ranging review by Professor Eileen Munro which looked closely at the assessment of children in need. Professor Munro held three events with children and young people during her year long review and called specifically for directors of children's services in England to obtain the views of children and young people to her proposals for changing the assessment process.
	The final report of Professor Munro's review was published in May 2011. In May 2012, Professor Munro asked the Office of the Children's Rights Director (OCRD) to work with some children in the trial authorities to gather their views to inform her report on the progress on the recommendations from her review. The work undertaken by the OCRD led to a report entitled ‘Children's experiences of child protection procedures’ (May 2012). Although only a small number of children took part in this work by the OCRD, the evidence from this report will also inform the proposed revisions to the statutory guidance.
	The Government ran a 12-week consultation over the summer on the proposed changes and received detailed responses from a number of organisations who reflect the views of children, young people and their families. These views along with all the evidence from the Munro review and from the trial authorities are being considered before final guidance is issued.

Families

Andrew Griffiths: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what steps he is taking to reduce the incidence of family breakdown.

Edward Timpson: Research shows that relationship breakdown affects the health and wellbeing of the whole family, and that children whose parents split up are more likely to experience breakdown in their own adult relationships. That is why the Government has committed £30 million to funding relationship support programmes between 2011 and 2015, and the Department for Education has recently run a procurement exercise for the delivery of new services from 2013 to 2015. A number of expert providers in the voluntary and community sector will be funded to deliver a range of services, including preventative support targeted at couples at risk of family breakdown; activities to encourage the take up of relationship support; and counselling for couples who may be experiencing difficulties.
	The Department funds a number of family information services, which include helpline and online information, providing advice and guidance on relationships. These services are delivered by expert providers including Relate as well as through online support communities such as Netmums, and will continue to be funded up until 2015.
	The Government will also be providing greater support to separating and separated parents through a web service designed to help parents collaborate and make their own arrangements for child maintenance and contact. DWP also recently launched an “Innovation Fund” worth £14 million that will test out the most effective means of helping separating and separated parents work together in the best interests of their children.

Pupils: Disadvantaged

Pauline Latham: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what assessment he has made of the use of the pupil premium in Mid Derbyshire.

David Laws: The Government believes that head teachers and school leaders should decide how to use the Pupil Premium, in order to support pupils entitled to the premium and close the gaps in performance between pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds and other pupils. This means that we also expect schools to take the lead responsibility in assessing and accounting for their use of the premium. Schools are accountable to parents and to their communities, and we have therefore taken steps to improve the local information available about the attainment of disadvantaged pupils. First, their educational attainment in each school is now published through the performance tables. In addition, schools receiving the Pupil Premium are required to publish an annual statement online which includes: the school's pupil premium funding for the current academic year; their plans for spending the premium; the funding allocation for the previous academic year and details of how it was spent; and the effect of this expenditure on the educational attainment of the school's premium pupils.
	Nationally, the Government has made a significant funding investment in disadvantaged children through the Pupil Premium, which is currently £1.25 billion and will rise to £1.875 billion in 2013-14. We have therefore both commissioned an external evaluation of the premium's first year, and asked Ofsted to study how effectively schools are using their premium funding to close the gap between disadvantaged pupils and their peers.
	Ofsted published their interim study findings on 20 September 2012, and will publish the results of the full study in spring 2013. In addition to this, they have an increased focus on the performance of pupils who attract the premium, and on how it is used to remove barriers to learning for premium pupils. Since September 2012, as part of routine school inspection, Ofsted have been holding school leaders to account for how schools have spent their Pupil Premium and what difference this is making to the learning and progress of the pupils concerned. Their judgments on schools' leadership will consider the use of both the premium and other resources to overcome barriers to achievement for their pupils.
	In his annual report published in November, Her Majesty's Chief Inspector has committed Ofsted to paying particular attention to attainment gaps affecting disadvantaged pupils in schools where they form a minority of less than 20% of all pupils.

Written Questions: Government Responses

Stephen Twigg: To ask the Secretary of State for Education when he plans to answer the question tabled by the hon. Member for Liverpool, West Derby, on 12 October 2012, on the Local Authority Central Services Equivalent Grant.

David Laws: Response to the hon. Member has been issued today.

BBC Trust

Fabian Hamilton: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what discussions she has had with the BBC Trust on severance packages given to (a) departing directors and (b) George Entwistle.

Edward Vaizey: The Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, my right hon. Friend the Member for Basingstoke (Maria Miller), has had a number of discussions with the Chairman of the BBC Trust over recent weeks, some of which have included updates from the Chairman on developments following the resignation of the Director-General. However decisions made on severance packages given to departing directors, the recruitment and appointment of the Director-General and other senior executives are entirely matters for the BBC Trust.

Broadband Delivery UK

Helen Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport what the administration budget of Broadband Delivery UK was in each year since May 2010.

Edward Vaizey: holding answer 30 November 2012
	The administration budget for Broadband Delivery UK (BDUK) in 2010-11, was £1 million, and in 2011-12, it was £5.85 million, reflecting its increased workload in delivering the Government's ambitious broadband plans and the ramping-up of its work. BDUK no longer has a separate administration budget from the rest of the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.

Football: Racial Discrimination

John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what recent discussions she has had with representatives of football on the use of racist chanting and abuse in that sport.

Hugh Robertson: As a result of the Downing street summit in February, the Government has asked the football authorities to publish a clear plan of action on what can be done to tackle racism in the game. We continue to meet with the authorities to check progress with this.
	I have also written in the strongest terms to UEFA following the scenes at the England U21 match in Serbia. It is now in their hands and we await their formal judgment.

Football: Sportsgrounds

Simon Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if she will bring forward proposals to amend the Football Spectators Act 1989 to introduce on a trial basis, limited standing areas at grounds of clubs in the Premier League and Championship who agree to participate in such trials.

Hugh Robertson: The Government believes that the long standing policy, which requires that stadia of football clubs in the top two divisions be all-seater, remains the best means to ensure the safety and security of spectators at football grounds in England and Wales. The football authorities, police and those responsible for safety all continue to support the current policy and a compelling case has not been made to change this.

Roads: Accidents

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many accidents have involved both a vehicle and wildlife in each of the last five years.

Stephen Hammond: The Department only collects information relating to personal injury road accidents, and therefore does not include damage-only accidents in its statistics.
	The number of accidents where animals (including wildlife, livestock and pets but excluding ridden horses) were a hazard in the carriageway for last five years are given in following table:
	
		
			 Number of reported personal injury road accidents where an animal was carriageway hazard, GB: 2007-11 
			 Number of accidents 
			  Fatal Serious Slight Total 
			 2007 7 123 870 1,000 
			 2008 7 127 735 869 
			 2009 6 128 700 834 
			 2010 1 126 737 864 
			 2011 8 126 717 851 
		
	
	It is not possible to say whether the animal was struck by a vehicle in the accident or caused the accident.

Roads: Accidents

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many motor accidents there have been involving (a) coaches, (b) rickshaws and (c) quad bikes in each of the last five years.

Stephen Hammond: The Department is unable to identify rickshaws and quad bikes separately as there are no specific codes for these vehicle types in our accident data. They are included in the "other vehicle" category which also includes vehicles such as motor caravans, fire engines, ambulances and mobile cranes among others.
	The number of reported personal injury road accidents involving buses/coaches for the last five years is given in table RAS20001, published in annual report entitled “Reported road casualties in Great Britain: annual report 2011”. The table is available at:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/10136/ras20001.xls
	A copy of the report is also deposited in the Libraries of the House.

Community Orders

Elfyn Llwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice if he will bring forward proposals to enable the courts to seize the assets of offenders who are given community orders.

Jeremy Wright: The Government sought views in its “Punishment and Reform” consultation on whether to introduce a new sentencing power for courts to order the confiscation of assets from offenders given a community order. In the light of consultation responses, the Government has decided not to introduce such a power at this time.

Community Orders

Elfyn Llwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what assessment his Department has made of the effectiveness of individual community order requirements in reducing re-offending.

Jeremy Wright: The proven reoffending rate for adults subject to court orders(1) was 34% in the 12 months ending September 2010.
	The Ministry of Justice has also published research which examines the relative effectiveness of community order requirements at reducing reoffending, for offenders with similar characteristics.
	The study used propensity score matching to explore the impact of different community order requirements on the re-offending rate and frequency of reoffending within two years of the initial offence. The analysis used data from the Offender Assessment System, probation and reoffending records and administrative data on employment and benefit receipt.
	The research is published on the MOJ website and can be located on the following webpage:
	http://www.justice.gov.uk/downloads/publications/research-and-analysis/moj-research/niesr-report.pdf
	(1) Including pre-Criminal Justice Act 2003 community sentences, new community orders and suspended sentence orders.

Knives: East of England

David Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice 
	(1)  how many and what proportion of people convicted of encouraging violent behaviour involving the use of a knife under the Knives Act 1997 received a (a) fine and (b) custodial sentence of (i) less than six months, (ii) six to 12 months, (iii) 12 to 18 months and (iv) 18 to 24 months in (A) Suffolk, (B) Bedfordshire, (C) Cambridgeshire, (D) Essex, (E) Hertfordshire and (F) Norfolk in each of the last three years;
	(2)  how many people were found guilty of offences related to the illegal sale and marketing of knives in (a) Suffolk, (b) Bedfordshire, (c) Cambridgeshire, (d) Essex, (e) Hertfordshire and (f) Norfolk in each of the last three years.

Jeremy Wright: Information held centrally by the Ministry of Justice on defendants proceeded against, found guilty and sentenced for criminal offences shows there were no convictions for encouraging violent behaviour involving the use of a knife under the Knives Act 1997, in the requested police force areas, during the period 2009 to 2011 (the latest available).
	The number of offenders found guilty and sentenced at all courts for offences related to the illegal sale and marketing of knives, under section 141A (1) of the Criminal Justice Act 1988 (which prohibits sales of knives to those under 18), in the requested police force areas, for the years 2009 to 2011 (latest available), can be viewed in the following table.
	
		
			 Number of persons found guilty and sentenced at all courts, for offences relating to the illegal sale and marketing of knives (1) , in selected police force areas in England and Wales, 2009 - 11 (2,3) 
			  2009 2010 2011 
			 Police force area Found guilty Sentenced Found guilty Sentenced Found guilty Sentenced 
			 Suffolk 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Bedfordshire 3 3 0 0 0 0 
			 Cambridgeshire 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Essex 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Hertfordshire 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Norfolk 0 0 1 1 0 0 
			 (1) Offences under Section 141 (1) of the Criminal Justice Act 1988, covering breaches of the law involving sale of knives or bladed article to under-18s. (2) The figures given in the table relate to persons for whom these offences were the principal offences for which they were dealt with. When a defendant has been found guilty of two or more offences it is the offence for which the heaviest penalty is imposed. Where the same disposal is imposed for two or more offences, the offence selected is the offence for which the statutory maximum penalty is the most severe. (3) Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts and police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used. Source: Justice Statistics Analytical Services—Ministry of Justice.

Mediation

Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice if he will consider the introduction of a mandatory mediation for both parents to undertake in child contact disputes which do not involve an allegation of domestic violence involving a police investigation, prior to any such case being presented before the Family Courts; and if he will make a statement.

Helen Grant: The Government believes that mediation can play a valuable role in helping parents to maintain an ongoing parenting relationship during and following separation or divorce and is actively encouraging people to seek information as early as possible when considering their arrangements. The process of mediation can also equip parents with the skills needed to communicate and negotiate changes to arrangements for their child in the future.
	The coalition Government has no plans, however, to make mediation compulsory in family disputes. Mediation is a voluntary process and as such it would be quite wrong, and would be likely to be counterproductive, for the Government to seek to compel people to mediate against their will. Whether family mediation is appropriate for resolving a particular family dispute depends on a number of factors. Mediation will usually be inappropriate where domestic violence or abuse is an issue but any significant power imbalance between the parties would also make mediation unsuitable.
	Under a pre application protocol introduced in April 2011 a prospective applicant in specified types of family proceedings is expected, except in certain specified circumstances, to consider with a mediator whether the dispute could be resolved through mediation. This involves attending a mediation information and assessment meeting (a ‘MIAM’) to receive information about family mediation and how it might help the parties settle their dispute. The MIAM takes place before any proceedings are started in court.
	The court will expect all applicants to have complied with the protocol before commencing proceedings (except where any exemption applies) and will also expect a respondent to have attended a mediation information and assessment meeting, if invited to do so. If court proceedings are taken, the court will wish to know at the first hearing whether mediation has been considered by both parties.
	We believe that the operation of the protocol needs to be further improved so that consideration of mediation becomes routine and not the exception. The Government's response to the Family Justice review made it clear that consideration would be given to a statutory change to make attendance at a MIAM by a potential applicant a prerequisite for starting relevant family proceedings (with limited specified exemptions, for example where there is evidence of domestic violence).
	The Government published a draft clause in September to this effect which has been subject to pre-legislative scrutiny by the Justice Select Committee. The Government awaits publication of the Committee's report and will consider carefully any recommendations made.

Repossession Orders: Suffolk

Therese Coffey: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many court orders have been issued for the repossession of homes in Suffolk Coastal constituency in each of the last five years.

Helen Grant: The following table shows the numbers of claims leading to orders being made for the repossession of property by mortgage lenders and landlords in Suffolk Coastal constituency between 2007 and 2011. The Ministry of Justice does not hold information at the local level on the total numbers of repossessions of property (including where keys are handed back voluntarily).
	These figures represent the numbers of claims leading to orders being made. This is more accurate than the number of orders, removing the double-counting of instances where a single claim leads to more than one order. It is also a more meaningful measure of the number of homeowners who are subject to court repossession actions.
	These figures do not indicate how many properties have actually been repossessed. Repossessions can occur without a court order, such as where borrowers hand the keys back to the lender. Also, not all possession orders result in repossession. Many orders are suspended and if the borrower complies with the repayment arrangements set out in the suspended order the property will not be repossessed.
	The most recent data for claims leading to orders figures for all regions and local authority areas in England and Wales were recently published on 8 November 2012. This statistical bulletin is available from the Ministry of Justice website at:
	http://www.justice.gov.uk/publications/statistics-and-data/civil-justice/mortgage-possession.htm
	In addition statistics on mortgage and landlord possession claims leading to orders made in the county courts of England and Wales, 2000 to 2011—Breakdown by Parliamentary Constituencies—is available in the House of Commons Library.
	
		
			 Number of mortgage (1)  and landlord (2,3)  possession claims leading to orders made (4,5,6)  for properties in Suffolk Coastal constituency (7,8,9) —2007 - 11 
			  Mortgage possession claims leading to an order made Landlord possession claims leading to an order made 
			 2007 55 70 
			 2008 80 55 
			 2009 65 45 
			 2010 55 60 
			 2011 50 90 
			 (1) Includes all types of mortgage lenders. (2) Includes all types of landlord whether social or private. (3) Landlord actions include those made under both standard and accelerated procedures. Landlord actions via the accelerated procedure enable the orders to be made solely on the basis of written evidence for shorthold tenancies, when the fixed period of tenancy has come to an end. (4) The number of claims that lead to an order includes all claims in which the first order, whether outright or suspended, is made during the period. (5) The court, following a judicial decision, may grant an order for possession immediately. This entitles the claimant to apply for a warrant to have the defendant evicted. However, even where a warrant for possession is issued, the parties can still negotiate a compromise to prevent eviction. (6) Includes outright and suspended orders, the latter being where the court grants the claimant possession but suspends the operation of the order. Provided the defendant complies with the terms of suspension, which usually require the defendant to pay the current mortgage or rent instalments plus some of the accrued arrears, the possession order cannot be enforced. (7) Due to constituency boundary changes after 6 May 2010 UK parliamentary general election, the figures prior to 2010 Q1 (January to March) are based on the old boundaries. (8) All figures are rounded to the nearest five. (9) All 201 I figures for Suffolk Coastal are provisional Source: Ministry of Justice

Work Capability Assessment: Appeals

Tom Greatrex: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what the cost to his Department has been of appeals to the work capability assessment in 2012-13 to date.

Helen Grant: Her Majesty's Courts and Tribunals Service (HMCTS) hears appeals against Department for Work and Pensions decisions on entitlement to employment and support allowance (ESA) (decisions in which the work capability assessment is a key factor) rather than appeals against work capability assessment decisions themselves.
	The estimated total cost of the 47,282 ESA appeals in which the work capability assessment was a factor disposed of during the period April to June 2012 (the latest period for which data has been published) is £10.78 million.
	These estimated costs were calculated by multiplying the average cost of an individual first-tier tribunal—social security and child support case in 2011-12 (the latest period for which this data is available) by the number of ESA appeals disposed of, in which the work capability assessment was a factor.

Regeneration: Morecambe

David Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government when (a) he and (b) the Housing and Communities Agency (HCA) were made aware of the wish of Lancaster City Council to drop the requirement to match fund the £1.9 million allocated by the HCA for the regeneration of Morecambe; what his policy is on this matter; and if he will make a statement.

Mark Prisk: I know my hon. Friend has been campaigning on this matter, as evident from the petition and his speech of 3 December 2012, Official Report, column 696, on the Regeneration of Chatsworth Gardens.
	As the documents deposited in the answer to him of 25 October 2012, Official Report, column 994W, indicate, Lancaster City Council bid for the Clusters of Empty Homes Programme with a commitment to provide matched funding.
	Lancaster City Council have been allocated £1.9 million of central funding from the Programme. I understand that they have now confirmed that they will be providing their match funding, as required by the Programme.

Regional Development Agencies: Assets

Gordon Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much from the sale of former regional development agency assets by the Homes and Communities Agency will be spent within the region in which the asset originated.

Mark Prisk: holding answer 29 November 2012
	Receipts of £34.9 million have been achieved to date from the disposal by the Homes and Communities Agency of land and property assets of the former regional development agencies.
	Of these, £7.6 million relate to the disposal of coalfield land and property assets. Although the former regional development agencies held the coalfield assets, English Partnerships/the Homes and Communities Agency paid for their remediation, and it was agreed under the last Administration that any receipts would go back to the Homes and Communities Agency accordingly.
	The remaining receipts will be spent on meeting the legal commitments that we have inherited from the former regional development agencies. In total, the current estimate of commitments is equivalent to £310.3 million (for example, in the hon. Member's own locality, the cost of the former North West Regional Development Agency's commitments is currently an estimated £64.4 million).
	These commitments are a consequence of the land-banking and asset management of the former agencies (rather than the abolition of the agencies, as such), and relate to steps that are necessary to help the regeneration of these sites.
	As illustrations, such commitments include:
	Tipner site, Portsmouth: honouring the land remediation contract to remove pollutants from the soil so that new development can start on the site.
	Gosport: Demolition of dangerous buildings and site infrastructure (water, sewerage, electric supply).
	Bradford: Stripping out asbestos, and further structural support, to make the Odeon site fire safe.
	Northfleet, Kent: paying a contractor to raise the level of the land to comply with Environment Agency flood requirements.
	Wolverhampton: Removing pollutants and old structures on a former copper works site.

Common Agricultural Policy

Peter Bone: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what recent progress he has made on reforming the common agricultural policy.

David Heath: We want an efficient and responsive agricultural sector in the EU and globally and this round of CAP reform must help achieve this. We need regulations that are implementable, administratively simple and continue the path of reform.
	Last week the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs attended Agriculture Council, where we continued to hold negotiations on the proposed CAP reform regulations. Progress on some technical details has been made and we hope for agreement amongst member states under the Irish presidency.

Sky Lanterns

Mark Spencer: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what plans he has to investigate the effect of sky lanterns on livestock and crops.

David Heath: The Government is aware of concerns about the impacts of sky lanterns on animals, crops and property and has taken steps to raise public awareness and encourage people to think carefully before using them. The Government has now commissioned an independent study to assess the risks that sky lanterns pose and to see if any further action is needed to address the concerns that people have about them.

Water Bills: South-west

Anne-Marie Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what steps his Department is taking to lower water bills in the south-west.

Richard Benyon: The Government has decided to fund South West Water to enable it to cut bills by £50 per year for all household customers. We will start making this payment from April 2013 and have committed to continuing it through to the end of the next spending review period. We have also issued guidance for water companies to enable them to introduce social tariffs to reduce the bills of customers who would otherwise struggle to pay.

Livestock: Transport

Stuart Andrew: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what steps his Department is taking to prevent further animal deaths as the result of the live animal export trade.

David Heath: The Animal Health and Veterinary Laboratories Agency (AHVLA) is responsible for implementing EU rules on the protection of animals during transport (Council Regulation (EC) 1/2005). It has taken a number of recent measures, including an increase in the inspection of animals and vehicles at the point of loading.
	The checks at the point of loading, undertaken by AHVLA inspectors, include consignment details, transporter/driver details, journey details and a separate checklist of 33 questions on the suitability of the vehicle and the welfare of the animals being transported. Any non-compliances is recorded and the necessary action taken by AHVLA inspectors.

Meetings

Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what meetings (a) the right hon. Member for North East Hampshire and (b) the hon. Member for Harwich have had with (i) Ministers, (ii) civil servants and (iii) senior military personnel in his Department since May 2010; and what was discussed at each such meeting.

Philip Hammond: The following table details the meetings which have taken place between Ministry of Defence Ministers and my right hon. Friend the Member for North East Hampshire (Mr Arbuthnot) and my hon. Friend the Member for Harwich and North Essex (Mr Jenkin) since May 2010.
	
		
			 Date of meeting Name of Minister Name of MP Purpose of discussion 
			 22 June 2010 Right hon. Dr Liam Fox (SofS) Right hon. James Arbuthnot MP Introductory call 
			 24 November 2010 Right hon. Andrew Robathan (Min DPWV) Bernard Jenkin MP Blueforces Ltd 
			 13 June 2011 Right hon. Dr Liam Fox (SofS) Right hon. James Arbuthnot MP House of Commons Defence Committee (HCDC), Strategic Defence and Security Review (SDSR) and National Security Strategy (NSS) issues 
			 14 November 2011 Right hon. Philip Hammond (SofS) Right hon. James Arbuthnot HCDC, SDSR and NSS issues 
			 12 October 2011 Peter Luff (Min DEST) Right hon. James Arbuthnot MP Nimrod MRA4 
			 29 November 2011 Right hon. Philip Hammond (SofS) Bernard Jenkin MP Defence issues 
			 31 January 2012 Peter Luff (Min DEST) Right hon. James Arbuthnot MP White Paper National Security Through Technology Cm8278 
			 1 February 2012 Right hon. Philip Hammond (SofS) Right hon. James Arbuthnot MP HCDC issues 
			 24 April 2012 Peter Luff (Min DEST) Right hon. James Arbuthnot MP Helicopter capability 
			 9 May 2012 Right hon. Philip Hammond (SofS) Right hon. James Arbuthnot MP HCDC issues 
			 25 June 2012 Nick Harvey (Min (AF)) Right hon. James Arbuthnot MP Defence issues 
			 16 October 2012 Right hon. Philip Hammond (SofS) James Arbuthnot MP HCDC issues 
			 17 October 2012 Philip Dunne (Min DEST) James Arbuthnot MP Introductory meeting with Chairman and HCDC members 
		
	
	I also attended and spoke at the Electronic Infrastructure Summit chaired by James Arbuthnot on 14 May 2012, and spoke to him in the margins of the event. Records of this and other such meetings in the margins of events and the business of the House are not retained.
	Information on any meetings between the two MPs and military and civilian members of staff is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Unmanned Air Vehicles

Craig Whittaker: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what assessment he has made of whether the geographic and psychological distance between the operator of an armed UK drone and its target makes attacks more likely to be launched.

Andrew Robathan: The geographical distance between the operator of an aircraft and a target, whether the pilot is in the aircraft or remote, does not affect the legal position of an attack. All UK forces operate in accordance with the Law of Armed Conflict and UK Rules of Engagement which apply no matter the location of the pilot. Additionally, pilots of all aircraft types follow the same procedures for attacks, which include an emphasis on minimising the risk of civilian casualties.
	Regarding psychological considerations, experience of operating the Reaper Remotely Piloted Aircraft System (RPAS) suggests that far from being detached from the reality of the situation, Reaper aircrew are just as, if not more, connected to the situation on the ground as compared to operators of other aircraft types. The increased information available to RPAS operators and subsequently ground commanders, the endurance of Remotely Piloted Aircraft and the substantial operational experience of RPAS crews, who fly missions over Afghanistan for years at a time, results in an unrivalled depth of knowledge. Therefore, RPAS make a significant contribution to the safety and security of UK and coalition forces in Afghanistan, while also minimising the risk to civilians.

Unmanned Air Vehicles

Craig Whittaker: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what assessment he has made of whether belief in the accuracy of drone sensors and cameras may lead commanders to order strikes with a higher risk of causing civilian casualties than would previously have been the case.

Andrew Robathan: UK Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems (RPAS) are flown by professional military pilots and follow the Law of Armed Conflict and UK Rules of Engagement in exactly the same way as pilots of other aircraft types.
	The fidelity of RPAS sensors is similar to those of other aircraft types. Experience in Afghanistan indicates that the ability of UK Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems (RPAS) to loiter and build up an intelligence picture over long periods enhances the ability of commanders to positively identify legitimate military targets and minimise the risk to civilians.

Unmanned Air Vehicles

Craig Whittaker: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what assessment he has made of whether the unmanned nature of armed UK drones makes it more likely that attacks will be launched.

Andrew Robathan: UK Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems (RPAS) are anything but unmanned—professional pilots remain in full control of the aircraft at all times and follow the Law of Armed Conflict and UK Rules of Engagement in exactly the same way as pilots of other aircraft types.
	Our experience of operating the Reaper RPAS in Afghanistan suggests that Reaper aircrew are just as, if not more, connected to the situation on the ground as compared to operators of other aircraft types. The increased information available to RPAS operators and subsequently ground commanders, the endurance of Remotely Piloted Aircraft and the substantial operational experience of RPAS crews, who fly missions over Afghanistan for years at a time, results in an unrivalled depth of knowledge. Therefore, RPAS make a significant contribution to the safety and security of UK and coalition forces in Afghanistan, while also minimising the risk to civilians.